


Your Heart on Your Sleeve

by DisneyKid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Fred Weasley Lives, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisneyKid/pseuds/DisneyKid
Summary: Hermione finally gets her soulmate mark while on the run. Respect and tradition dictated that until you spoke with your soulmate alone, no one was to know who they were. Normally that wasn’t an issue, but of course for Hermione nothing was easy, and until this war was over she couldn't say a word. When the war is finally over, and she finds Fred lifeless on the floor, how is she supposed to tell him now?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 119





	Your Heart on Your Sleeve

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story that I have written in over a decade. Its my first foray into the world of Harry Potter, the soulmate trope, and fluffy one-shots. So keep that in mind. 
> 
> I saw the first two movies in high school before I ever picked up the books, so to me the characters look like the actors that played them. Also, I refuse to accept that Fred died. 
> 
> A huge shout out to two individuals. 
> 
> 1\. Moonfairy. Her lovely writing inspired me, and got me out of a decade long writers block. I will be forever grateful that she gave me back my writing outlet.
> 
> 2\. LSUsweetie. Who kindly took my first draft, and red penned the hell out of it. If it wasn't for her, this story wouldn't be nearly as good.
> 
> ***

Hermione adjusted the leather strap of her heavy bag as she slowly walked through the familiar corridor of St. Mungo’s. She knew exactly how to get to her destination as she had walked this path a few of times a week for the past three months. The notice-me-not spell gave her the privacy she needed, as these special visits were for her, alone. When she got to the right door she leaned in, and holding her wand, whispered, “Homenum Revelio,” to be assured that no one else was in the room. 

The door creaked as it opened announcing her presence, and she moved to sit down in the chair near the left-hand side of his bed. Looking over his face for any new signs of life, she marveled at how handsome he was. Gone were his soft boyish looks she remembered from school. Those had been replaced with a sharp jaw and laugh lines. The cuts on his cheek from the falling wall had healed up nicely, and were now barely visible. His hair was even starting to brighten up to its normal copper glow. It was getting a bit long and she sighed as she brushed a bit of his fringe off his forehead. After a minute of just watching him breathe, ensuring her that he was still there with her, she reached into her bag and pulled out a book. Hermione shifted in the hard plastic of the hospital chair to get comfortable and moved his left hand onto her knee like she had done every time before this one.

“Since we finished the last one, I brought a new book for you. I think you’ll like this one, it’s one of my favourites.” She studied him again and smiled tenderly at his sleeping form before she opened her book and began to read aloud. “All children, except one, grow up…” 

***  
September 18, 1997

Hermione was on watch that night. She’d planned it that way, wanting to be completely alone. Leaning up against the outside door of the tent looking up into the night sky, she tried to gather her thoughts. She glanced at the watch on her left hand, two minutes before midnight. Two minutes that could change her entire world, her future. Willing herself to calm the excited butterflies in her tummy, she removed the watchband that had been on her wrist for the last year as a precaution. There was a chance that nothing was going to happen in the next five minutes. If she was the older one, her preparations would all be for naught. 

Having grown up in the muggle world, it had been a strange idea to take in. The term soulmates being a concept of true love was certainly not new, but having one? Not just that but having one given to you? When she had first read about it in Hogwarts: A History she thought it was talking about the type of idyllic romance she’d seen in muggle movies. It wasn’t until she had talked with Molly Weasley just before her second year did she realise that in the wizarding world they were real and that she would have one. 

Molly had explained in detail to Hermione as if she were her own daughter, knowing how much Hermione wanted to know absolutely everything about her new magical world. She explained that every witch and wizard were a part of a pair, and they would find out on the 18th birthday of the youngest one. Marks showing up on their left wrist, indicating their soulmate by their initials. These marks were sacred, and not to be shown to anyone. You weren’t supposed to tell anyone who your soulmate was until you spoke with them and compared marks.

As the seconds ticked by, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen, if she was being completely honest. If her soulmate was Ron, which he seemed convinced that he was, nothing was going to happen until March. Hermione sat there trying to figure out how she felt about him. Lately, she had been starting to think that her affection for Ron wasn’t strong enough to be true love. There was something missing. The passion and spark of excitement just didn’t seem to be there for her anymore. He felt more like a loyal brother that she could rely on, than someone who she could see spending the rest of her life with. 

Regardless of what may happen with her soulmark, she was still on a Horcrux hunt with Ron and Harry. And they had to stay hidden without any contact with the outside world.

After ruminating on her thoughts a bit longer to pass the time, Hermione checked her watch again. It was five minutes past midnight. Her breath caught in her throat, this was it. Forcing her eyes shut, she took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. Feeling a bit more relaxed she moved her left wrist into her line of view. After counting to ten, she opened her eyes. Three black letters shined up at her, and she knew exactly who they belonged to. Her mind quickly conjured up an image of the tall ginger-haired man, causing her heart to swell in her chest, and a flush of heat to rise to her cheeks. With pride flowing through her, she covered her mark back up with her watchband. The rest of her time on watch flew by with happy thoughts of her future swirling in her head.

Ron hadn’t taken the news very well. He’d convinced himself that she was his soulmate. When it finally came up that Hermione had indeed received her mark on her birthday, he had lost it. They got into a huge argument before he disapparated, leaving Hermione in tears and Harry to try and pick up the pieces.

Ron returned with Harry in the woods the day after Christmas, with the Sword of Gryffindor and a destroyed locket. He had nursed his broken heart and wanted nothing more than to get back to them. Hermione wasn’t sure how he’d been able to find them, and she wasn’t entirely pleased that he was back. The betrayal she felt was hard to overcome, considering he had made her feel like she’d chosen someone other than him on purpose. He immediately apologized for his jealousy and insensitivity and explained how the deluminator had helped him find his way back. It had taken many conversations, but eventually, they came to an understanding, and the golden trio set forth on their quest for the remainder of the Horcruxes. 

To keep her spirits up during their quest, Hermione thought about her soulmate. Reminiscing about the times she’d spent with him in school, having to hide how proud she was of some of his inventions behind her prefect badge, or how fit he looked in his quidditch uniform as she watched him play. When she heard him on Potterwatch, she reveled in his smooth voice coming through the enchanted radio and longed for the day where she would hear that same confident voice whisper sweet nothings in her ear. But she never let on to Ron and Harry just who her soulmate was. 

Respect and tradition dictated that until you spoke with your soulmate alone, no one was to know who they were. Normally that wasn’t an issue, but of course for Hermione nothing was easy, and until this war was over she had to remain neutral and guarded. She valued tradition and history far too much and knew that she needed to keep it to herself. 

When she found herself in the Room of Requirement on the precipice of war, she purposely avoided looking for him. This battle was going to take all of her determination and focus, and she was afraid of distracting herself in any way. Knowing he was here, fighting alongside her and the others was enough. This war needed to end. Then she could find him, hear his voice in person, and hug him for all it was worth. 

Hermione was running with Ron up the staircase to head to the second floor girls bathroom when she spotted him for the first time. He was fighting alongside Percy across the atrium when he looked over and caught her eyes. He smiled at her and winked, and she felt her heart race just a little faster over her surging adrenaline. For a moment, all the noise surrounding her vanished, and it was just her and him. She gave him a wistful smile, before the roar of war came back to her, and they both carried on with the battle. This war needed to be over, they had a lifetime to start. 

When she saw him again, he was lying lifeless upon the floor of the great hall. Her steps faltered, and her heart constricted in her chest making her feel like she couldn’t breathe. Before she could even reach him, she had to turn and look away. Holding in her scream, she squeezed her fists so hard her nails dug into her skin. This couldn’t be happening, there was so much she had wanted to say to him.

“You can do this, Hermione,” she whispered to herself. “Go get your soulmate. He needs you.” 

Counting to ten, she straightened herself up, bit her lip, and hid the pure agony she was feeling. Staying strong for the both of them, she swallowed her Gryffindor pride and took confident steps towards the rest of the Weasleys. 

As she approached the family she could see that Molly was clinging desperately to Aurthur and hiding her face in his shoulder. Ginny was being comforted by Harry, and Percy had his arm around Ron. George was huddled over the right side of Fred’s body clutching his hand and sobbing. She’d never seen George look so utterly broken.

Hermione found herself being drawn to the only spot near Fred available. Kneeling down on the floor to his left, she grabbed his hand. As she caught sight of Fred’s watch-covered wrist, she felt her muscles tense up, knowing what the metal band hid. She could feel her heartbreaking in two as she clutched Fred’s hand harder, unable to hold her tears back any longer.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Hermione noticed that George had stopped crying and was now staring intently at Fred’s face. She watched, with interest as he readjusted his grip on Fred's other hand. After another minute George started yelling for a healer. To her complete shock, Fred was alive. 

Chaos quickly ensued as multiple healers came running in, pushing her and George out of the way. Unable to move, she watched spell after spell being cast over Fred as the healers began their work. Hermione was too stunned to notice that Harry had put his other arm around her, or that he had pulled her closer to his side. She was in a daze as the healers quickly levitated Fred onto a stretcher and ran off towards St. Mungo’s with Molly and George running closely behind. 

Hermoine wasn’t sure how she got home to the Burrow, or what time it was when she finally collapsed into her bed in the room she shared with Ginny. It was the first time in as long as she could remember that she didn’t have a nightmare plague her sleep, likely from pure exhaustion due to running on adrenaline for over twenty-four hours. Despite all the unknowns hanging around in her head, the rest had done her a world of good. Once she had a hot shower and pulled on clean clothes that she’d borrowed from Ginny, she felt even better. Having lost weight over her year on the run with the boys, the clothes were quite loose, but they were clean, warm, and smelled like home. She tugged on the sleeve, making sure her awful scar was covered before she placed her hand on her watchband.

Fred...with all the excitement last night she hardly had a chance to process everything. Seeing him on the floor not moving had shattered every happy moment she’d used to keep herself going throughout her year on the run. She hadn’t realised just how many plans she’d created in her head for the two of them, and they had all left her in a single, heartbreaking breath. Needing to find out what was happening with him, she stood up straighter and put up her emotional wall again, before rushing downstairs to find someone.

When she reached the kitchen she found Percy at the table going through some papers, and Ginny was just sitting down to what looked like lunch. Upon seeing Hermione in the doorway Ginny immediately got up and pushed her to sit down at the table, grabbing another plate of food, and placing it down before her. 

“Mum and Dad are still at Mungo’s with George, and Harry and Ron are still asleep,” she said before she leveled Hermione a look that was reminiscent of Molly’s mothering. “Eat, you need your strength.” Hermione didn’t feel hungry, a side effect of not having enough food on the run, but she picked up a fork and made an effort. She didn’t want Ginny to worry any more than she already was. 

“How’s Fred?” Hermione asked casually before putting a forkful of food in her mouth. She kept a straight face but could hear her heart thrum louder in her ears, full of hope.

“Dad sent a Patronus earlier. They stabilized him. He’s currently in a coma, but he’s breathing on his own. So far all the signs look good. They can’t promise anything, as he has a lot of injuries, but so far so good.” Hermione slowly let go of the breath she was holding. He was going to be okay!

“And George? How is he?” Hermione worried about him, she’d never seen him as devastated as he’d been huddled on the floor with Fred.

“George is alright. He’s hellbent on not leaving Fred’s side, but he’s just happy that Fred is alive. We all are.” Ginny smiled a relieved smile in Hermione’s direction. “Now eat.”

Eventually, things started to return to normal, or as close to normal as possible. The war clean-up commenced, and most of the Weasleys along with Harry and Hermione helped return Hogwarts to its former glory. Then they helped get the twins’ shop back open along with the others on Diagon Alley. George needed a reason to leave Fred’s bedside, and having his shop open was the final push that he needed. It didn’t hurt that Angelina Johnson, his soulmate, encouraged him by working with him while she was on summer break with her Quidditch team. 

Harry and Ron started Auror training not long after, and Hermione was planning to go back to finish her seventh year at Hogwarts with Ginny, so her summer was pretty open. She helped out at the Burrow, and sometimes even helped at the shop much to George’s excitement. 

“The Perfect Prefect Princess willingly enabling others in mischief? George teased. “Now I’ve seen everything.” 

Hermione’s only response was to roll her eyes in his direction. 

Fred was still in St. Mungo’s, where he remained in a coma. There was nothing the healers could do until he woke himself up. They were confident that he would, but could not give any indication of how long it would take. George and the rest of the family, including Hermione, visited him daily, before going about their day. Usually, she tagged along with Ginny or Harry. But those visits were not the ones she cared about. 

Hermione was trying to keep herself busy, and visible to most members of the Weasley family. The benefit of being willing to help others out was that no one questioned her when she would leave at random times, saying she was off to help someone else. She didn’t want anyone to worry about her, and she also didn’t want anyone to follow her. A year of practice in sneaking around, ensuring no one was trailing her, was becoming a very useful skill.

It was in these times when she’d sneak off to her private visitations with Fred, where she could truly be herself. Knowing all about muggle practices in regards to coma patients, she knew that hearing calming familiar voices helped in the recovery process. Visiting a few times a week, she would talk to Fred, regaling him with her own personal stories, or reading from novels that she was sure he would like. They had already read through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. She would stay for about an hour, and when she left, she always kissed his left hand.

***

Hermione was so caught up in the story of Peter Pan and Wendy that she didn’t realise that she had let her guard down. She was in the middle of a chapter when she realised that she wasn’t alone in the room any longer. The colour drained from her face, as her startled eyes caught sight of George sitting in the chair on the other side of Fred’s bed. Starting to panic, she tried to figure out how to leave, but she couldn’t free herself from her chair.

“Oh please don’t stop, I was quite enjoying that.” He smiled at her. 

Hermione still couldn’t move. Instead, she studied him, trying to see if he was teasing her. But there was nothing but warmth in his brown eyes. This calmed her nerves but didn’t make her want to leave any less. “I should go...” She muttered, not wanting to explain why she was there. 

“Don’t leave, he wouldn’t want you to.” George insisted. Her head shot up instantly from where she was looking for her bag. “He didn’t tell me. If that’s what you're thinking.” 

“But you know.” She whispered, looking down in her lap, and clutching her watchband.

“I do, because I know when your birthday is, Hermione.” He shifted in his chair, smiling softly in her direction. “He was deliriously happy that day, and for Fred, that’s saying something.” 

“I see.” Hermione still refused to look at him. 

“Your secret is safe with me. I’ll even cover for you from now on so that no one else will intrude.” She looked at him with relief evident on her face. “Now keep reading, this Peter guy has got me intrigued…” Picking up the book again, she started reading after another nod of encouragement from George. 

It was right after she read “You just think lovely wonderful thoughts,” in the third chapter that she faltered in her reading. She felt something. Looking up expecting to see George beside her, she was confused that he was still on the other side of the bed listening with rapt attention. He gave her a quizzical look as she stopped. Shaking her head, she read the line again. 

“You just think lovely wonderful thoughts,” This time she was paying attention when it happened again. Something was tightening on her knee. She tore her eyes from the book and looked down at her lap. Fred’s hand was exactly where she had placed it earlier, except this time it was gripping her knee. Dropping the forgotten book on the floor, she quickly grabbed his hand. “Fred?” She whispered, her mind going a mile a minute at the possibility that he was awake.

The grip on her hand tightened, and a groan came out of Fred’s mouth. She looked up to see his eyes blinking and she called his name again. Slowly he moved his head towards her, and she could see his eyes starting to focus on her. George jumped out of his seat and out the door to find a healer. Fred tried to speak again, but Hermione shushed him, “You’ve been out for a while, don’t try to move or speak, a healer is on their way.” He gripped her hand and kept his eyes on her.

The healer came rushing into the room with George right on her heels. She quickly cast a few diagnostic spells and she smiled at the results. Pulling a few vials out of her robes, the healer motioned for George to help Fred sit up to swallow them properly. “Those should help you feel more awake and able to move but stay in your bed. Welcome back, Mr. Weasley. I’ll come to check in on you in a little bit.” Fred nodded at her as she left the room again.

“I’ve missed you, Freddie,” George said as he promptly gave his twin a hug. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.” 

“I won’t Georgie,” Fred whispered hoarsely, as his vocal cords were strained from lack of use.

“Good.” George nodded as he let go of him. “I’m going to go floo the family and let them know what’s going on.” He steeled a look straight at Hermione, who was still holding Fred’s hand before he got up and left the two of them alone.

“Hermione..”

“Fred…” They both spoke at the same time, which caused them to chuckle a bit. Obeying the slight pressure pulling on her hand, she moved to sit on the bed facing Fred. 

A slow smile brightened up his handsome face, as he shook his head. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.” 

“Probably as happy as I am. I was devastated when I thought I’d lost you before I even got to have you.” She ran her free hand through his copper fringe, and down the side of his face. 

Ever the confident prankster, he gave her a cocky smile. “So you’ll have me?”

“Absolutely, Soulmate.” She grinned before she leaned down and kissed him. It was a soft simple kiss, but it made her heart flutter in her chest, and her toes curl in her shoes. He turned his head a little to deepen the kiss, before wrapping his other hand around her shoulders, pinning her to him. 

When he released her, Hermione sat up, and let go of his hand. Fred focused intently on her as she slowly removed her watch. With trepidation she presented her wrist to him, his initials staring up at him. He reached out and held her hand gently, as she took a shuddering breath. “This mark, and all that it promised, helped me get through my hardest days during our hunt and the war.”

“I’m so thankful that you're mine, Hermione. Truly.” He said overcome with emotions before he raised her wrist to his mouth and kissed her mark. Watching Fred be so tender with her mark, the beacon that had kept her going through the war, left her speechless. Hermione had waited so long for this moment and it was better than anything she had ever imagined. 

Hermione watched closely as Fred let go of her hand and started to remove the bandage that was covering his mark. He ran his finger across her dark initials before he turned so that she could see them. “The day they appeared was the happiest day of my life, until today.” Not trusting her voice, Hermione held his hand and gazed into his eyes before she followed his lead and kissed his mark. “I love you, Hermione Jean Granger.”

“I love you too, Fred.” She gasped.

After everything she’d gone through, she had been afraid to hope that she would get her happily ever after. Having Fred finally wake up, and hearing his voice say those words to her, made her entire journey worth it. She no longer had to keep her feelings bottled up inside. Tears of joy fell down her cheeks as she realised she could finally express them out loud, whenever she wanted. Fred reached up to wipe them away, before sliding his hand to cup her face, and kiss her again.


End file.
